The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (58 page)

Wilhelm was quiet. “I
can
do
something about that. It’s not much, but it is something. He
attacked someone who belongs to me.”

“Anna belongs to you.”

“It’s different, and you know it.” He paused.
“Kaveh has disappeared, at least that’s what Devin believes.”

“Kaveh disappeared?” Maybe that’s where
Sebastian went. Without Kaveh, Devin likely couldn’t get his powers
back. “Would Sebastian be able to take Kaveh out of the picture and
keep him in the...Immortal place?”

“It’s possible. Why?”

“Sebastian was here, battling with someone
whom I suspect was Kaveh. According to Aaron, they just
disappeared.”

“If that’s what happened, I will be eternally
thankful to Sebastian.”

“It’s the only explanation as to where he
is.” Alex told Wilhelm everything he had learned from Aaron.

“If that’s true, Sebastian will return with
Kaveh when you confront Devin.” Wilhelm sighed. “Son, rest. Make
tentative plans for an earlier attack on Tyler. Keep calm. Anna
will survive. She’s a strong woman. You will have your
revenge.”

Anna could hardly move when she awoke. After
the young Elders and Tyler had their way with her, Devin made her
please the other Elders, and then he had taken her to bed and
consumed her until she couldn’t move. It terrified Anna to think of
Devin becoming powerful again.

Should she have run, tried to escape? Maybe
if she hadn’t gone to the condo, maybe she wouldn’t be here. It was
Kelsey who had told them to go. Was Tom really as loyal as he
claimed? Maybe it was a trick to get her back to Devin.

She heard voices outside the door and then
the door opened.

“See, there she is.” It was Devin, but she
couldn’t see who he was talking to.

“I’m impressed, Devin,” said a male voice
with a thick accent. Russian, maybe? Vlad? “I’m glad you were able
to find her.”

“When she’s able to move, you’re more than
welcome to her.”

“Bah, she’s not my type. I prefer my Irina.
Peter may be interested. He did have a soft spot for her.”

“Do you trust him?”

“He is my heir. Of course I do.”

“He fell in love with her.”

“What did you expect? You made them live
together. He realizes how foolish he was...that he was under her
spell. But he did say she was a good fuck. I will let him
know.”

Tears burned Anna’s eyes. Peter thought that
of her?

Devin came into her view. “How are you
feeling, Baby?” he asked with a sickening smirk on his face. He
caressed her face. “I can’t wait to get you home in a few days. We
are going to have lots of fun.” He grinned back toward the door,
and he and Vlad both laughed.

With effort, Anna turned onto her side, away
from Devin. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back onto her
back. “Don’t you dare turn away from me, bitch.” He slapped her
face, but all she could do was look up at him. “We need to find you
some clothes this afternoon. Rest well. The next few days will be
busy.”

By dinnertime, Anna was able to get up and
move normally, except for being tired and sore. Devin had the
concierge bring clothes up to her since she hadn't been able to get
up and go shopping.

Vlad and Peter came to eat dinner with Devin
and Tyler. She carefully kept her head down, trying to be as
inconspicuous as possible. Peter greeted her warmly, to which Vlad
snapped at him in Russian and he stepped away with an apologetic
look on his face. Why was Vlad being so mean? Had he changed his
mind about helping her? If he had, she would be stuck with Devin
forever.

Devin made Anna give Peter a blowjob after
dinner, since Vlad didn’t particularly care for her. She knelt
between Peter’s feet and, with shaking hands, released his cock
from his pants.

“Suck it, Anna,” Peter growled, bringing
tears to her eyes. She sat up on her knees and took him into her
mouth, sucking on the cock she’d been so fond of not so long ago.
He put his hand on her head as if to control her movements, but he
really just followed her movements. She was confused.

When Vlad and Devin were deep in conversation
about the American Elders, and Tyler had left the room, Peter
leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Anna, everything will be all
right. Forgive us for our actions. We must keep Devin from
suspecting us.”

Anna nodded as best she could with his cock
in her mouth, but her enthusiasm for the blowjob increased after
that.

Wilhelm and Kurt arrived at the cathedral
Sunday morning and immediately began to search surreptitiously for
Devin, and more importantly, for Anna. What he had learned from
Brandon had relieved some of his fears. At least temporarily. But
he would feel better when he saw her. He made brief eye contact
with Vlad and gave a subtle nod of greeting, wishing he could go
speak to him openly and discuss their next move.

He saw the other Elder-Mistresses, cool and
aloof, talking and smiling with each other and the men around them.
Suddenly, they all turned, almost as one, and looked towards the
street. A limo stopped, the back door opened and Devin stepped out,
an arrogant look on his face. Behind him was a very pale Anna,
dressed in a simple black skirt suit. She had a bruise on her
cheek, but looked otherwise unharmed.

Wilhelm noticed the various expressions on
the other Elder-Mistresses’ faces. Most looked at her with disdain.
A few had subtle, though genuine smiles on their faces, almost as
if they admired her. Irina looked at her curiously, but otherwise
remained impassive.

Devin’s eyes met Wilhelm’s and he barely
contained himself as the other man smirked at him. He put his arm
around Anna and walked her toward the entrance of the
cathedral.

“A word, Devin?” Wilhelm said in a calm voice
as Devin walked by.

“You won't be getting Anna anytime soon,
Wilhelm, so don’t even ask.” Devin gave him a cool look.

Wilhelm saw Anna studying the ground
intently. He winced at the bruise on her cheek. It was much worse
up close. “You can’t treat her like that, Devin.”

“Why not? She’s a runaway slave. She’s lucky
she can walk.”

“She’s an Elder-Mistress,” Wilhelm
growled.

“Who ran away from her Master.” Devin smiled.
“You have no right to contest her punishment and you know it.”

Anna shuddered next to Devin, which broke
Wilhelm’s heart. “Perhaps not, but I can contest how you treated
one of my own.”

Devin raised his brow. “Oh?”

“You attacked Aaron and put him in the
hospital.”

“He’s lucky to be alive,” Devin snapped.

“It’s not your right to attack my Brother. He
belongs to me.
My
country.”

Edwin walked up at that moment, as well as
Oswin and Jürgen, two other German Elders.

Devin’s eyes widened. “All right. All right.
I apologize. But he was harboring my slave.”

“As I understand it, she was in her own home
when you found her. How could he be harboring her in her own
home?”

“Fine. What do you want?”

“Stay away from him from now on.” Wilhelm
smiled. “And I would like a few minutes alone with Anna.” He had
figured out a way he could give Anna an element of protection. It
wouldn’t keep her from getting hurt, but it would keep Devin from
torturing information out of her. At least to an extent.

“Absolutely not,” Devin snapped. “I will not
allow you to take her out of my sight. For all I know, you helped
her run away.”

He forced a lightness he was far from feeling
into his tone. “How could I do that from Germany, Devin?
Really!”

The other Elders chuckled, and Devin frowned.
“Fine. As long as she stays where I can see her.”

“Fair enough.” He extended his hand.
“
Liebling?”

Anna looked up with hope in her eyes, and he
gave her a kind smile. She glanced at Devin, who nodded
begrudgingly, and walked away with him as Wilhelm hugged her to
him. She began to sob and Wilhelm felt his heart squeeze in his
chest.

“I’m so sorry this has happened,
Liebling
,” he said softly. “I will speak to the others as
soon as I am able and we will get you away from him as soon as we
can.”

She looked up at him with mournful eyes.
“Will it have to wait until next month?”

Wilhelm shook his head. “I don’t think so,
but I cannot make that decision on my own. Don’t give up hope. He
will come for you.” Wilhelm leaned down and kissed her head. “Anna,
for your protection, I am going to bury many of your memories since
you went to New York, especially of Alex, all right? Devin cannot
know he is in the country.” He cupped her chin and made her look
up. “Do you trust me,
Liebling
?”

“Of course, Wilhelm,” she said softly. “Will
they return?”

“Yes, Anna. I will release them when it is
safe. I will also hide the memories of your escape so you can’t
tell him who helped you.”

Anna nodded and gave him a brave smile.
“Peter told me that everything would be all right last night.”

“Thank you,” he whispered. Another memory to
block. He leaned down, as if to kiss her head again and began to
murmur the ancient words that would protect her mind from Devin’s
probing. He gave her new, temporary memories that would conceal the
truth of what happened in New York with his son and her escape.
They only had to last a week or so.

He hoped.

Anna felt as if she were trying to hold on to
smoke. Her mind was desperately clinging to something that was
rapidly disappearing. A faint memory of...something. Something
good...she thought. It was gone now. She sighed, having felt that
she lost something of importance, though she had no idea what.

She looked around. She was in a courtyard of
a cathedral. Elders surrounding her... a funeral. Oscar and Rylan’s
funeral. But why was she here?

She looked up at the person who was holding
her. “Wilhelm? Why am I...?” As she continued to look around her,
she spotted Devin.
Devin
. He had found her. In New York.
Oh, God, he found her!

Suddenly she remembered everything that had
happened the last two days and her knees buckled. Wilhelm held her
close. “It will be all right,
Liebling,”
he whispered.

She shook her head. “He found me...he’s going
to punish me.” Terror filled her heart. There was no hope. No hope
for escape. He’d found her in New York and he would take her back
to San Francisco. He would never let her out of his sight
again.

Devin glared at her from across the
courtyard. “He’s angry,” she whispered, and looked up at
Wilhelm.

“Anna, it will be all right,” Wilhelm said,
cupping her cheek. “I promise.”

“Wilhelm, can’t you keep him from taking me?”
she whimpered, seeing Devin walking towards them.

“Anna, you ran away from him. There is little
I can do.”

Anna stepped away, her face contorting as she
tried to control her emotions. Her immense hurt and disappointment.
“I thought you cared about me, Wilhelm,” she whispered, incredulous
that he would do nothing to help her. She hadn’t seen him in what
seemed like forever, and he wouldn’t help her? She didn’t even
remember the last time she’d seen him. Why were her memories so
fuzzy?

“I do,
Liebling
. So much. Please
trust me. Everything will be all right.”

Tears filled her eyes as Devin approached and
dread filled her heart. “Please Wilhelm...,” she whispered. “Please
don’t let him take me.”

Wilhelm’s eyes filled with grief.

“Come, Anna,” Devin said sharply.

Anna’s jaw trembled as she stared at Wilhelm.
Why wouldn’t he do anything? Had Devin done something to him?

Devin grabbed her elbow and Wilhelm grabbed
her hand.

“Devin, please...,” Wilhelm said softly.
“Please, let me spend some time with her. I haven’t seen her
in—”

Devin laughed and pulled her away, but
Wilhelm held onto her hand. “What, days? Surely you helped her run
away from me. She couldn’t have done it on her own.”

Anna was being pulled between the two men and
the crowd was beginning to take note of them.

“She belongs to me just as much as you,”
Wilhelm snapped.

“I’m not saying I won’t share her, but she
must be punished for what she did,” Devin snapped back.

“Gentlemen!” Neither man released Anna as the
respected British Elder, Shaw Wilson, walked into the circle. “Why
are two grown men fighting over a woman?”

“She ran away from me. I have a right to
punish her,” Devin snarled.

“She knows she did wrong, let her be,”
Wilhelm countered.

“Release her, both of you,” Shaw
commanded.

“You have no jurisdiction here, Wilson.”
Devin growled, but he released Anna’s elbow and Wilhelm let her go
as well.

“You are attracting the attention of
outsiders, and even you should know how dangerous that is,
Devin.”

“He’s trying to take my slave away from me,”
Devin said in a soft, snarling voice.

“He’s going to torture her,” Wilhelm
protested in an equally soft, intense voice.

Anna saw Creda, the British Mistress,
standing next to Shaw and studying her. Anna gave her a pleading
look. She was desperate enough to reach out to a fellow
Elder-Mistress for aid in getting away from Devin, even though she
knew Creda didn’t care for her.

“It’s disrespectful to call her a slave,
Devin,” Shaw reprimanded.

“Whether you like it or not, it’s the truth
and you know it.”

Shaw turned his gaze on Anna. “Who brought
you here today, Anna?”

“D-Devin. Devin brought me.”

Shaw studied her intently. “You ran away from
your Master?”

Anna’s eyes widened in fear. She had run
away. She knew she had, but the memories were so fuzzy, she really
only remembered arriving in New York. She finally nodded
timidly.